THE TECHNICAL Education and Skills Development Authority vowed to prioritize the technical vocational education and training for the benefit of the agriculture sector.

“TESDA regards the agriculture sector as among the most important in the country. We must ensure that a steady supply of well-trained workers, equipped with the most up-to-date knowledge is available,” Tesda Director General Danilo Cruz said.

“We are putting the country’s tech-voc infrastructure and Tesda’s resources behind this administration’s programs and directions to ensure that its long-term goals are realized,” Cruz added.

TESDA Deputy Director General Aniceto Bertiz 3rd, in a recent TV interview, said the agency has allocated 30 percent of its total scholarship budget to the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector.

“In line with the administration’s goal towards food security, we have prioritized the technical vocational training of our Filipino farmers, especially among young people in the urban and rural areas,” he said.

From January to October 12 this year, the total number of individuals who enrolled in agriculture-related tech-voc courses reached 137,206, of which 135,571 have already graduated.

These courses include Agricultural Crops Production, Organic Agriculture Production, Rice Machinery Operations, Agricultural Machinery Servicing, Grains Production, Landscape Installation and Maintenance, Aquaculture, Fish Capture, and Horticulture, among others.

For the first three quarters of 2022, the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector accounted for almost 18 percent of the total number of tech-voc graduates.

“We continue to improve and expand our services, particularly in the agriculture sector to help the country achieve food self-sufficiency. We are also developing more training courses for the post-harvest training programs for them to market their products,” he said.

“TESDA has intensified its efforts to ensure that there are available qualified human resources for the different industries through the agency’s quality-assured TVET delivery, assessment, and certification systems,” Bertiz added.

He said the agency will collaborate more with the industries in sectors such as Agriculture, Tourism, Manufacturing, Transportation & Logistics, Health, IT-BPM, Creative Industries, Energy and Construction.